Response to "Rivers and Tides":
Wow. What an extaordinary artist Andy Goldsworthy is. I really admire the way that he braves the elements of nature to complete such fragile works. He seems to be searching for a feeling that a certain place can transmit. There are two things that collide in his work: River and Sea, both water.
There are many wonderful moments I can recall from the film. There is one shot of a beautiful serpent like shape made probably from leaves that flows so elegantly down this quiet stream. It's very strange to watch because the construction moves almost exactly like an actual snake. The thing that interests me deeply about Goldsworthy's work is that he is not only very conceptual but the fact that his work is so extremely temporary. He insists on letting nature take its tole on the work. When he is finished whatever becomes of it is just meant to be. Take for example this piece that he constructed at a salmon fishing hole in a little inlet on a shore. The water was calm, with an overcast sky ahead dusk approaching. The final piece ended up looking like something that a beaver might live in. A massive buildup of wood pieces and twigs. But once Goldsworthy was finished the camera captures it just floating so peacefully (for the majority still one piece) out with the tide. "It's as if it is going on to another world,"said Goldsworthy. Something else that interested me was the fact that the documentary was not afraid to show Goldsworthy's catastrophes. On a beautiful rocky sea shore which appears to be in England, Goldsworthy was attempting to build a structure from piled stones. A Very delicate situation indeed. The artists' frustration becomes really obvious when the rocks collapse multiple times.
Overall I like the work. I think that it coincides with the final project perfectly. How does a place speak to you? What seems to compel you to enter a space or make you stay away from it? How do you try and capture the raw feeling which a place can provide you? These are all questions that Goldsworthy seems to be trying to answer with his work.